Looking for a Teaching Job? Advice from an Education Jobs board

An education jobs board will have a mix of jobs. Some will be directly from schools and colleges etc. where your application will go straight to the institution in question. Other jobs will be posted by Recruiters who handle vacancies and applications on behalf of the schools.

You will generally be able to identify a direct teachers job (as opposed to a recruiter one) as the name of the school will be displayed and often accompanied by the school emblem. Applying for one of these jobs will always involve downloading a lengthy application form that you will have to complete and submit (sometimes these are online forms).

A Recruiter’s job will be slightly different, you are unlikely to be able to pinpoint exactly which institution you are applying to from the job ad, instead you will find terms like ‘[Recruiter Company Name] are looking for Primary School Teachers to work in schools in North London’.

With these jobs you can apply with your CV and a good recruiter will take the time to interview relevant candidates before providing the school with a shortlist of names that they can choose to interview. If the school employs one of these candidates they have to pay the recruiter several thousand pounds (usually calculated at between 10 – 20% of the starting salary).

These recruiters will advertise the job in several places (generic jobs boards, education jobs board etc.) as well as trawling through CV databases in a bid to locate viable candidates. When looking at CV’s they often only scan them for a very brief moment which is why it is so important to give them the information they are looking for as clearly and simply as possible.

A recruiter may also put candidates forward for other jobs they believe are suitable or keep details on record for when other relevant vacancies arise. You are an asset to a recruiter so if you provide them with a good CV they will continue to job hunt on your behalf.

There are three basic elements that a recruiter will need to know at a glance:

That you are a qualified teacher (assuming it’s a teaching role you are applying for as opposed to a support role)

That you have had at least six months classroom experience in the last two years

That you are local to the job or willing to relocate

Point 1:

Although your experience (that you will undoubtedly include) will speak for itself in terms of being a qualified teacher, it is totally acceptable to begin with a headline including information about your teaching qualification and years of experience. Any of the below are perfectly acceptable to add to the very top of your CV:

Qualified teacher with 14 years of experience

Qualified experienced Science teacher

Just completed my PGCE

Graduate with NQT status

Point 2:

Always list your employment history in reverse chronological order as this helps to keep the most recent at the top (if your more recent employment was not in teaching, consider reversing this). Include the start and end date and add the duration for convenience. Ensure the name and location of the school is included as well. Include your position, and any other relevant experience & responsibilities.

Point 3:

Pretty straight forward, it is always a good idea to have your name and full contact details (including address) at the top of your CV. This will let the recruiter know that you are local to the job. If you are not local but willing to relocate mention it here with a simple line like:

Willing to relocate

Looking to work in Harrow

Most of the larger Recruitment companies will be registered with the REC which means they should be adhering to a code of conduct (details). This includes verifying your qualifications as well as ensuring things like DBS (Disclosure Barring Service; more info) checks are in place.

(REC registered recruiters will display this logo on their website. More advice about choosing a recruitment agency to work with can be found here)

Now that the Recruiter knows you are a viable candidate it’s time to add some finesse to help you get to the top of the pile.

list your Education starting with your most recent qualifications

Include any languages you speak

Professional associations you belong to

Specific or additional relevant experiences

Some personal information about you such as hobbies and interests – you can inject some personality here and give a flavour of your more social, human side.

Try to keep it to two pages maximum

Include information about why you are applying for a specific role or certain type of role (if you want to keep it a little more generalised) and what you are passionate about. Mention any soft skills you possess and how you bring these into the classroom (and if you impart them on your students).

Don’t be shy about your achievements, if you can demonstrate that you can develop your students’ understanding of a subject or that your teaching be adapted to suit various situations then make sure you add some details.

And finally ALWAYS proofread thoroughly (better still, ask a friend to proofread it as well) spelling mistakes and typos are damaging and avoidable.